Day 19: Communist Warsaw

The “Palace of Culture and Science” – the tallest building in Poland – was a “gift” from the Soviet Union to their Polish satellite in the early 1950s.

As we moved back towards the modern city center, Greg talked about some of the Soviet influences upon the city.  At the end of World War II, quite predictably, Stalin made sure that a pro-Communist government was installed in Poland and that the original Polish government (in exile in London) would remain in exile until the collapse of communism at the start of the 90s.

In the post-World War II world, Stalin redrew the boundaries of the Poland, giving East Prussia to the Poles (Hitler invaded Poland over the “Danzig Corridor” which separated Germany from East Prussia), ceding a lot of eastern Germany to the Poles as well, while keeping the East Prussia port of Konigsberg for themselves (later renaming it Kaliningrad and expelling the German residents.  It remains a possession of Russia to this very day though isolated from mainland Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union).  The Soviets also annexed a fair amount of Eastern Poland and forcibly relocated the inhabitants to the rest of Poland – not quite land as much as they took in 1939 but still about 77,000 square kilometers.

I thought the Soviets kicked the Germans out in 1945.  Actually, this building was the former Central Office for the Control of Publications and Performances back during the Communist era.

Greg also spoke about some of his experiences growing up in Communist Poland during the tail end of the regime (he was 11 when the government collapsed).  He spoke about the heavy rationing due to shortages where he and his mother would each wait in a separate line all day long to procure basic necessities.  The prices stayed low, you just had to wait (two years for an automobile or washing machine).  To overcome the appalling efficiency of the planned economy, people often resorted to the black market, where used products were actually more expensive than new ones because they were readily available. 

Remnants of Communist rule – hard working heroes of Communist labor memorialized to inspire their fellow workers to greater deeds in service of the state.

He explained how anger over the shortages fed the growth of the Solidarity movement (the first non-Communist trade union to emerge in a Soviet bloc country) at the start of the 80s, with roughly a third of the Polish population members by 1981.  Despite fears of a Prague or Budapest-style Soviet crackdown with tanks in the streets, the Soviets made it clear to the Communist government that they wouldn’t commit Soviet troops to restore order in Poland.  Eventually, the Communist Polish government instituted martial law for two years and outlawed Solidarity, which forced the movement underground.

Greg said that the lack of a Soviet response to the emergence of a non-Communist movement opened the door for the eventual breakup of the Soviet Union and the Soviet bloc.  Solidarity re-emerged in 1989 and forced semi-free elections which led to the breakdown of the Communist party and the restoration of democratic rule at the end of 1989.

Something non-Communist for balance – the Polish tomb of the unknown soldier, with remnants dating back to 1918.  The battles fought by Poland are listed around the structure going as far back as 972 AD.